The three first-years, Simon included, chatted while they waited for the seniors to return. The boy with the glasses was nad Fitzgerald. He was a Summoning aspirant from Class M and clearly a scholar, well-versed in theory. While he hadn’t mastered every subject like irin, his talent in his chosen field of Summoning placed him among the top five in the entire school.
"I heard about your golem. I admit it was impressive," Fitzgerald began, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But it’s inefficient for duel evaluations. A strategy that relies on building a golem outside the arena is easily countered once the opponent knows about it."
"I agree," Simon replied with a nod and a smile.
Fitzgerald seed surprised by his ready agreent. He narrowed his eyes, lightly gripping the fra of his glasses. "Most people get angry when you criticize their greatest source of confidence."
"Why would I be angry? I always welco constructive criticism. But if the golem is as inefficient as you say, what would you suggest?"
As if he had been waiting for the question, Fitzgerald launched into a detailed analysis. "Conversely, you should feint as if you’re building a golem. Use your most well-known tactic to gain a psychological advantage, then secure victory with a different, core elent. I judge that to be the most effective strategy."
Simon blinked in surprise. It was exactly what he had been thinking.
"And you are..." Fitzgerald’s gaze shifted to Toto. "Who?"
Toto gave a bitter smile and quickly introduced himself. "I’m Toto Amori, from Class A, sa as Simon! I’m also a Summoning aspirant!"
Simon noted again how short Toto was, perhaps even shorter than Kamibarez. He wondered if he had hobbit blood.
"Duel evaluation squad?"
Toto flinched. "L-Lower... I was in the lowest squad last ti..."
"I recomnd you give up on Summoning now and go cling to Professor Bahil’s coattails," Fitzgerald advised coolly, adjusting his glasses. "I’m not trying to put you down. It’s simply what’s necessary to survive at Kizen."
"B-But!" Toto clenched his fidgeting hands into tight fists. "I don’t have any talent for anything besides Summoning! And more importantly, watching Simon’s first duel evaluation made realize sothing!"
His gaze toward Simon was a complex mix of awe, respect, and the pure competitive drive of a rival.
"I think living your life at Kizen with conviction is the coolest thing in the world!"
Fitzgerald removed his hand from his glasses and crossed his arms. Simon braced himself for another cynical remark about inefficiency, but instead...
"Being cool is important," Fitzgerald stated, turning his head away.
Simon and Toto exchanged a puzzled glance.
"Freshn! Sorry to keep you waiting!" The cream-haired girl who had brought Simon burst back into the room. The three first-years shot to their feet.
"...you’re back?" Deo, who had been dead to the world on the sofa, sat up yawning, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced around. "...Where’s the pig?"
"I wasn’t expecting him to show up anyway! Let’s just start with the two of us!"
Deo nodded and rose like a zombie, planting his feet on the floor and slowly uncurling his hunched back.
"...This way."
Deo led them. What they thought was just an old, cramped room held a secret. Deo moved a bookshelf to reveal a hidden door. They descended a staircase into a large, brightly lit underground space.
Fitzgerald, Simon, and Toto stood in a line. Before them, the girl with the flowing hair stood confidently, arms crossed. Deo, carrying a stack of papers, slowly took his place beside her.
She placed her hands on her hips and took a deep, theatrical breath.
"It’s a pleasure to et you, freshn!!!"
Her booming voice shook the entire room, her lung capacity so overwhelming she could have been an opera singer.
"My na is Benya Vanilla!" She jabbed a finger toward the ceiling. "I’m a second-year Summoning major! My future ambition is world domination! It’s a pleasure to work with you!!"
"Huh...?"
Simon blinked. ’Is she really in her second year at Kizen? Not a second year in middle school?’
"...As you can probably guess," Deo added with a heavy sigh, "this is the person who’s our club president. For your own sakes, it would be better to just find a normal club—"Ow!"
Benya leaped into the air, delivering a flying side kick that connected squarely with Deo’s face. His body flew dozens of ters and slamd into a wall. Fortunately, it was padded and absorbed the impact, but Deo’s body went limp like a piece of dried jerky.
She landed gracefully and straightened up. "That unmotivated lump is Deo Patel. He’s just my lackey, so you can ignore him."
"I have a question." Fitzgerald raised his hand.
She grinned, pointing her index finger at him. "I like motivated students! What is it?"
"I’m curious about the significance of the world domination you speak of," Fitzgerald said, pushing up his glasses. "To date, no hero in the continent’s history has achieved world domination through military force. Not even the great Lady Nephthys can overco the Holy Federation and its seven saintesses."
"A very sharp question! I’m not that fond of conquest by force, either!" she nodded. "I will conquer the world with the undead!"
"With... undead?"
"That’s right! People don’t know the true value of the undead! Think about it! There’s no other labor force in the world with such low cost and high efficiency! The undead are a gift from the universe to this continent!" she declared, her voice rising with excitent. "Of course, due to aesthetic issues, an instinctive aversion to the dead, and above all, their aggression toward humans, they’re currently only used by necromancers who have opened their cores! But I won’t let it stay that way! I will expand the use of undead to the civilian sector and make the world a much more prosperous place!"
She clenched her fist.
"Conquest by force ans ninety-nine people are sacrificed for one. That can’t be called true conquest! I will make even the people of the Holy Federation fall in love with the value of my undead!"
In the stunned silence, only Fitzgerald was clapping, his expression terrifyingly serious.
"I’ll join."
"Excellent!"
Simon felt his mind go blank. ’Do people on the sa wavelength just naturally find each other?’
’This place is definitely not normal.’
He glanced over at Toto, whose face was flushed a shy red. His gaze was fixed on Benya as she passionately laid out her vision, her cream-colored hair flying.
"Sh-She’s beautiful..."
Good heavens, this one was even more far gone than Fitzgerald.
"You there!"
Benya strode over and stopped directly in front of Simon.
"Are you still hesitating to join?"
"Ah, yes."
"Join, Simon," Fitzgerald urged from the side, adjusting his glasses. "The chance to witness the beginning of a legend from your school days is a rit that cannot be exchanged for anything else."
Simon broke into a cold sweat, a weak smile on his face. Toto, anwhile, had shuffled away, clutching his pounding chest.
"S-So close! She’s so close...!"
"Hm?"
Noticing him, Benya walked over to Toto and placed a hand on his forehead. "You seem to have a bit of a fever."
"H-Huuuhh!" Toto’s body trembled as if he’d been electrocuted.
"You should probably go to the infirmary..."
"I-I’m fine! I-I’ll join!"
Benya took her hand away, blinked, and then grinned.
’Sh-She smiled at !’
That smile was enough to send Toto into a state of blissful shock.
anwhile, Simon was looking at her hands. They were covered in so many scars and calluses that it was hard to believe they belonged to an eighteen-year-old girl. Her dream of world domination was absurd, but her passion and effort were undeniably real.
And judging by the materials scattered around the clubroom, she had the skills to back it up.
’As a fellow Summoning student, there’s a sky-full of things I could learn from her.’
Simon weighed the pros and cons. Friends who shared his interests. A workshop where he could create and develop his own undead. A connection to the daughter of the chairman of the Vanilla Group, the continent’s top undead manufacturer. In terms of imdiate prestige, it fell short of Sadam, the Curse Research Society, or Noble. But the club that truly called to him was ‘Mutant.’
"I’m sorry, but I have a question for you."
"Hm! What is it?"
"If you obtained a completely new undead that no one else uses, what would be the best thing to do?"
She didn’t hesitate for a second, her face breaking into a brilliant smile.
"You have to clash and break with it, of course! A life where the unknown and the mundane coexist... just thinking about it makes my heart pound! Wouldn’t that be the happiest ti in the world?"
"...Hahaha."
Simon grinned and nodded.
"I’d like to join, too."
"Alright, everyone! You’ve all made up your minds, then?" Benya bead.
"...However."
Deo, having recovered from the kick, shuffled back over, his back still hunched. "Our club’s situation isn’t great, but we have no intention of accepting first-years who don’t et our standards."
He waved a flyer. Benya grinned and crossed her arms.
"You’ve all seen the requirents, right? You must possess a special undead and demonstrate a high level of operational skill!"
In truth, ‘Mutant’ had plenty to attract Summoning aspirants. The re presence of Benya Vanilla and the chance to connect with her would have been enough for many to consider it.
But the joining requirents were absurdly strict. Possession and operation of a special undead. The current first-year curriculum only covered the basic handling of low-level undead like skeletons. Simon, who could create and operate a Skeleton Archer or a Mud Golem through self-study, was an extre outlier.
While so first-years did possess ‘special undead,’ they were a powerful minority who aid for higher-ranked, more prestigious clubs. ‘Mutant,’ specializing in such a niche field, was destined to be a minor player, yet its standards remained high. That was why it had so few applicants.
"Alright, let’s begin the interviews!" Benya declared, clapping her hands together. "What kind of unique summons do you all commune with? Show !"
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